BATON ROUGE - Potential changes to street sign regulations could cost local communities hundreds of thousands of dollars in an effort to make them easier for everyone to see.

By 2018, street signs must use letters that are at least six inches tall, be reflective so they can be easily seen at night, and street names must use lower-case letters with a capitalized first letter, which the government says is easier to read.

Officials in Baker told News 2 today that they're in the process of replacing about 20,000 signs so they will be in compliance when the new regulations eventually happen. At a cost of $31 per sign, that means the change will cost the city around $620,000.

The Department of Transportation is holding an additional 45-day public comment period about when the changes should be implemented, after receiving numerous complaints from communities around the U. S.

News 2's Mike Steele will have more about how these changes tonight on News 2 at 6.